Le Bal - Der Tanzpalast

A movie without any word, no dialogue, but you don't feel that something is missing. The music, the dance and choreography, replace any missing dialogue. You get a history of France as seen and heard from a dance-hall stage at certain points in time : 1936,1940,1944,1946,1956, 1968, & 1983. Special remarks for Marc Berman & Jean-Francois Perrier and for the man behind writing and acting Jean-Claude Penchenat - La "croix de feu". Real nice movie - a 9 mark.

If someone would ask my top 10 movies,this one will be,without any doubt there.I wonder why is so difficult to get a DVD copy. Basically,this movie is about some 50 years of 20th century European history.Basically,because the movie is far more then this:is a declaration of love for cinema,is also a theatrum mundi,a world theater, in which human passions,the good and the bad ones,are its main characters. The big bet is that all this is told without saying a word.Rooted somehow in the music-hall,classical ballet and still movie,this masterpiece unfolds its beauty in dance,mimic,a peculiar semiotic intended more to suggest than to affirm. 2 hours of music and dance,without the slightest second of bore.It's delicate,funny,cerebral,interesting,diverting,remains in your mind and soul for ever.A must.

This movie without any verbal dialogue enchants you from the very first moment. About twenty people meet one night at a dance-party... As they begin to dance, they (and the audience with them) live through the modern history of their country. The music naturally plays the central role in this film. The film is grotesque, funny, and moving at the same time, full of nice quotations from the cultural history of the 20th century. Absolutely great performances from the actors (all of them are more than good, but I would give Marc Berman the loudest applause)- they surely had fun doing this movie. This is a film to be purchased on video and watched again and again, with reasonable intervals - you can't really get fed up with it.

This movie is absolutely magical - taking place in a French ball room, it takes you through time. Year in year out, the music, the dances, the style and fashions change. We see the characters' hopes, fears and desires, we watch their interactions. We see how changes in the outside world affect them. Ettore Scola does this without letting his characters speak.The music, the cinematography, the dancing and interacting are the elements which let us experience the intensity of the voyage through time. Scola does not need language for this. However, this movie should not be mistaken for a kind of dancing medley. It is a keen observation of human behavior, accompanied with deep insight and empathy.

I'm not one to use the term "brilliant" when describing a film, but LE BAL certainly merits it. It sounds so dry when you tell people the plot: a bunch of people in a timeless (in more ways than one) dance hall in Paris, with a series of vignettes that give the viewer a history of not only France but Europe (and in some places, the world) from the late 20s to the mid-80s. And yet that's what it is and what makes it so incredibly brilliant. The director uses each time's music and dance to make a statement about life as it was, whether during the Occupation or the 60s era student riots. His performers are all, to a man/woman, spot on with their characterizations: the man who's more concerned about his perfect hair than the safety of his dancing partner, the controlling woman who rhythmically waves her hands to keep her men at a suitable distance, the near-sighted wallflower who IIRC never gets on the dance floor. Even the buffoons are so elegantly shaded that you find yourself rooting for them in the end.

This little masterpiece is now almost impossible to find, so grab it when you do see it. Trust me, you will not be disappointed. Yes, it is that good.